An alternative slogan if you don't like that one: Someone has to win this crappy division(from alnorth)

With the beginning of a new year, it is time for the 2012 version of the Royals Repository Thread. We've got Hosmer, we've got a 2011-dominating Gordon, we've got Moose, we've got hopefully a killer bullpen, we've got a stereotypical slow slugging DH, we've got easily one of the best defensive shortstops in the AL, we've got a promising catcher in Salvador Perez. Hell, we've got offense and promising prospects galore.

We do not have starting pitching.

Oh yeah, we've also got this:

Get ready for, (as of January 2012 anyway), one of the most confusing puzzles of a baseball season in recent Royals history. Will they suck? Maybe, I don't know. Will we be given a year of 0.500 baseball? Possibly, I don't know. Will they win the division and go to the playoffs for the first time in 27 years? For the first time in a long time, it could happen, I don't know. 92 losses, 92 wins, or anything in between would not surprise a lot of us.

Everything goes here except Gameday threads and really big news. If a giant story breaks, the Royals achieve some awesome milestone, or we sign/lose a highly significant player/coach/mascot/whatever, then it might also deserve its own thread. This being Chiefs Planet, please do not clutter the board with new threads about trivial Royals news or you will only annoy those who come here for just Chiefs football. If you aren't sure and its not a Gameday thread, it goes here.

What sort of stuff often goes here? SPchief explained it well, so I'll just copy that:

Quote:

If you locate something of interest.. ANYTHING.. deals on apparel, best ways in/out of the stadium, giveaways, great stories from this season or from seasons gone by, rumors, trades, anything.... feel free to post it here.

How much of those misc. costs are attributed to front office payroll, specifically the financial obligations to the Glassholes?

Only 3 teams in baseball are debt-free, though KC has close to the least amount of debt in baseball.

A lot of fans just wildly exaggerate revenue sharing and basically presume a lot of expensive things are free. I just took a few minutes to take a stab at a couple: non-player payroll, and team travel.

Ignoring the owner and the board, I count 154 names. What do you think is the average salary+benefit package? I dunno, I figured ~$60k might be a fair, maybe low estimate. Right there, you can eliminate another $9.25MM

I just don't understand it. #1 Don't buy an MLB franchise to turn a profit. Buy it as a luxury item you can afford to blow money on. #2 Don't expect anyone, especially the fans, to have any pity on you when discussing finances. The fans will rightly respond that if it's a financial hardship, sell the freaking team.

I would love to be able to say that to him, but I imagine it's not in your best interest.

I will say this: there are several things that the general population does not know about the Glass family that would probably help their image in this town. Their philanthropic ventures, for example, are pretty top-notch...but they don't make them public. David is not a public eye kind of guy, and that's not what this town responds well to. We want to see you. We want to see that you're a normal human being just like we are. They don't seem to understand this. I'm not defending them or their actions, but they are completely different than the people I thought they would be. They genuinely do seem to care and show a great interest in the team. That being said, they need to show the same enthusiasm with their checkbooks.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that Brandon McCarthy agreed to a two-year deal with the Diamondbacks worth $15.5 million.
The deal is pending a physical. And that's no slam dunk given his recent brain surgery and previous shoulder issues, but the expectation right now is that he'll have a normal offseason. McCarthy owns a 3.29 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 43 starts since the beginning of the 2011 season, so $15.5 million looks like a bargain. His numbers will probably go up a bit making half of his starts in Arizona, but he should still make for a solid option in mixed fantasy leagues.

Only 3 teams in baseball are debt-free, though KC has close to the least amount of debt in baseball.

A lot of fans just wildly exaggerate revenue sharing and basically presume a lot of expensive things are free. I just took a few minutes to take a stab at a couple: non-player payroll, and team travel.

Ignoring the owner and the board, I count 154 names. What do you think is the average salary+benefit package? I dunno, I figured ~$60k might be a fair, maybe low estimate. Right there, you can eliminate another $9.25MM

I count about 37 trips needed on a chartered plane in 2013. If you took the low end of the WSJ estimate, there's another $2.775MM.

Rent to Jackson county (which they then use for maintenance) is about a quarter million plus up to 5% of net receipts, which who knows how much that is.

This isn't all just free nickle and dime stuff.

How about revenue from tickets, concessions, apparel, etc.? Then you also have to include costs such as marketing, operations (cleaning, upkeep, etc.). Then you have your scouts, their travel, etc. You've got revenue from special events, but there's cost there as well.

How about revenue from tickets, concessions, apparel, etc.? Then you also have to include costs such as marketing, operations (cleaning, upkeep, etc.). Then you have your scouts, their travel, etc. You've got revenue from special events, but there's cost there as well.

Ticket revenue is already embedded in my $115MM estimate. If we sell more than 1.7 million tickets or raise ticket prices, that could go up obviously.

Other than that, yeah some of the other things you mention I didn't try to quantify. We're not trying to balance a book we cant look at, but since I can figure out ways to explain 8-digits of non-player/prospect expenses (the Royals seem to be asking us to believe its around ~$25MM), then I figure good enough and expect a sizable increase in 2014.

Just out of curiosity since I got both my light and water bills today, I took a stab at utilities. I figure that'll be about $2.5MM or so, maybe more. I found two sources putting the utilities for an NFL stadium at about an average of $2MM. A baseball stadium is smaller, but is used a heck of a lot more with 4 times the attendance. (Jerryworld's utilities are over $200k/month!)

__________________ how many emo kids does it take to change a lightbulb? HOW MANY?! none they just sit in the dark and cry